We just upgraded our receiver to an Onkyo TX-SR507 and it sounds like we need to upgrade our speakers from what we got with our "Onkyo in a box" system from 6 years ago. My biggest issues currently are a) budget - we need to stay in the $500ish range if at all possible and b) a fairly funky living room arrangement - we are roughly 17-20 ft away from the TV and center/front speakers and one of us is directly across from the center speaker and the other is off to the side against the perpendicular wall.
I don't necessarily need or want "room-shaking" bass, but what I seek is a full, rich sound with clear lows, mids and highs. Currently, the music is sounding good, but voices are totally overshadowed in movies and the tone is very "boxy". The sound does sound marginally better in the sofa position (wife's location), but much worse where I'm stuck off to the side.
Currently I am debating between the Energy Take Classic and the Klipsch HD 500. The reviews seem solid on both...with Energy edging Klipsch on Cnet.com. My only reservation on the Energy is the rear port on the front speaker. We really have no choice but to wall-mount the front speakers (animals/kids, etc. are too intrigued by low-hanging objects) and one review mentioned how you should not wall-hang the Energy because the bass could be affected being that close to the wall (due to the rear port). The Klipsch looks solid, but at $200 more I'm not entirely sure the differences justify the cost. I'm open to other suggestions, though, if anyone knows of something better for our size room/arrangement/budget than these two.
Thank you all so much in advance for your assistance. I anxiously await your thoughts and input.
I know from experience that Klipsch speakers are worth every penny. And if they are a few hundred more expensive you are probably actually getting a significant improvement. They have really good highs and well balanced bass.
There are a few other speaker systems around the $500 price range that are good. polk audio, JBL.
Also I'm sure your new onkyo has some advanced settings that can help compensate for a less than perfect room. ie. controlling volume for each individual speaker, speaker distance settings.
